Women Only...BC Help!

I can't really say which pills work better, I'm on Levora now, and do find it more difficult to lose weight. I don't have any excessive cravings though.

From what I'm heard though, it takes at least 3 months for your body to get used to the pill so you need to give it time.

I had the Mirena IUD awhile back and would fully recommend.

Good luck.

Sprintec made me feel a lot of side effects: achy breasts, bloated, water weight gain. Everyone is different, though. I will say this-- in general, it can take your body 3 to 6 months to regulate itself while on hormonal birth control. If you're looking for something lower in hormones, I've always had great luck with Loestrin (they also make a Lo-Loestrin that's even lower in hormones). Everybody is different, though.

Last time I talked to my DR about BC, she said it wuold take around 4 months for my body to adjust to a new pill. It may be the same with you. It's always hard on your body to introduce something new, but it may adjust in time. If it doesn't seem to be working out, there are other pills and other methods you can try!

Wait a little longer to allow your body to adjust before talking to your doctor. She will likely tell you to give it at least a month before changing to a different pill. There are a lot of different pills out there with different hormone combinations. It might take awhile to find one that works for you. Good luck!

The 2 pounds could just be water weight.

In general it is said that the body takes 3 months to adjust to new hormones. Some women take a little less, some take a little more.

That said sprintec is one of the higher hormone options out there. Loestrin is another option (Junel is a generic) there is also loLoestrin now.

I personally wouldn't go the IUD route only because I have tried it and it didn't go well plus the copper one typically makes periods heavier and the mirena one can make them very unpredictable.

That's a very personal decision, but I'll give you my take on it.
I'm 27, and single (unmarried). I don't use hormonal birth control. Eventually your body will probably get used to the hormones, but it will hold on to fat a lot harder. Basically, the hormones make your body think it's pregnant, so it'll stay in that mode. make sense? There's also the long term fertility issues, but I won't get into that. IUDs may travel, or embed into your uterus, etc. Also will provide a direct pathway to your womb if you get any kind of infection in there. That scared the hell out of me. I had Mirena for a while, but removed it. made me too nervous. I've done the shot (it took over a year to get my cycle back), and the pill (I'm not that reliable) also.

Nowadays, I have one partner. We use spermacidal foam or gel or whatever (or cum killer as he calls it... lovely). I also keep track of my cycle and we avoid my fertile window. TMI, maybe, but it's been working. I tend toward more "natural" things, though. Hormones make me nervous. Were I more promiscuous, though, I would certainly be using condoms as well. I have one child, and probably don't want more, but I'm protective of my reproductive ability. Just in case.

I was on Sprintec last year and it wrecked havoc on my moods, weight, hormones, etc etc. My doctor switched me to the lowest hormone dose of OrthoCyclen and it is amazing the difference! My weight loss is ongoing and everything is great again. I've been on it for over 6 months now and it is the best.

I just took myself off of sprintec because it was turning me into a crazy person... Seriously bad mood swings, anger management problems. I've had success with trinessa.

I hated the Mirena. Haaaaate. I constantly felt pregnant, I gained lots of weight on it, my moods were awful, and I had zero sex drive. The only positive was that my periods disappeared.

I was on loestrin, and it sucked too. I am one of those that just can't handle the hormones, I guess I hope you find something that works for you!

Give the pill 3 months for your body to get used to it. If you want to switch, you can try a lower dose estrogen pill. The lowest is lo loestrin, but it's pretty knew and most insurances aren't covering it yet. It's a 10mcg pill. Another good one is microgestin fe 1/20. It's a 20 mcg and it's a generic so it's cheap. Sprintec is a 25mcg pill.

Hi!

I'm on Sprintec pills as well. I'm not on it for BC reasons, but for other medical concerns, so I don't really want to switch it up. If you're uncomfortable, talk to your doctor about switching things around.

However, when I first started taking it, I did gain weight. However, I've started to lose it again now with diet and exercise. I think you'll get used to it (I know I did) with time, but if you're not wanting to wait and it's really bothersome, talk to your doctor.

Any BC can take awhile to adjust to, but it sounds like you know your body well enough to know that this ISN'T working! Everyone's body reacts differently, so despite your doc saying something is weight neutral, well.. your hormones are specific to you I honestly think the key to BC is just to keep trying different things until you find something that clicks for you.

That being said, I've tried Nuvaring and Mirena and hated both. Nuvaring gave me constant headaches and killed my sex drive to a point where I didn't think I'd ever want to do it again - that may not be a big deal for you, but it was for me since I was in a relationship at the time. I got a Mirena and at first it seemed fine, but I eventually developed horrible cystic acne. It left awful scars which I still have after almost a year. Apparently it's a pretty common side effect of Mirena (based on my googling). For me, the negative side effects didn't crop up until about a year after I started each medication.

I decided to stop using birth control since I'm not in a relationship, but I guess my advice would be to be open and direct with your doctor. I've had doctors react with skepticism when I told them I was certain I didn't like a particular BC and wanted to switch, but you know your body and what feels right. You have every right to insist! Ortho Tricyclen Lo worked fairly well for me, but I have heard that it can cause weight gain.

Good luck!

Maybe try the rhythm method with spermicide on the days you're ovulating. That's what I did for years because I didn't want to take birth control, I had too many side effects from them.

After extensive research previously, I found that most weight gain while on the pill is caused by salt, and water retention. Reduce salt as much as you can, if possible, make all your own meals so you can control what condiments and seasoning goes into it, and keep up your fluid intake.